Tomislav Erhard-Pacovski

musician / composer

Tomislav Erhard-Pacovski. Musician and composer from Osijek, Croatia.

Competitions are for horses

“Competitions are for horses, not artists.” These are the words of the great Bela Bartok. One of the best thoughts I heard during many years of pursuing music. Such quotes make me proud of being an artist, or at least trying to be one. Art is amongst a few human activities where a person should be more or less free of comparison with others and have a chance of simply being oneself. Unfortunately, the world of art is not free of competition (far from it), and the rules of the game frequently aren’t equal for everyone. Especially nowadays.

I was never a competing person. During my formal education, I was not one of those for whom getting high grades was the only merit of success and knowledge. I’m also rather indifferent toward sports, except when talking about health and recreation. Say, the World Cup in soccer. While the world is on fire, I hardly know who won the cup. Of course, this doesn’t change things. The world likes winners. People generally love watching competitions and love to compete. The rare ones who don’t fit this profile (myself included) are seemingly out of luck. If you’re hoping to get noticed or be taken seriously, you have to compete somehow.

Everyone is well acquainted with the concept of a talent show. One of the most obvious examples is “The Voice”, which has been held in Croatia for several years. But when it comes to instrumentalists and composers, there aren’t many such opportunities, at least not to my knowledge. However, thanks to the Internet, there are other options. Most often in the form of so-called scoring competitions. These are sometimes organized by developers of virtual instruments, in collaboration with established film studios. You get a snippet taken from some upcoming film or a TV show and you have to produce a suitable musical background.

I have participated in such competitions on several occasions although I haven’t achieved more significant success yet. Those having more experience with this often say that one should never enter competitions with great expectations and that their prime purpose is merely learning, developing skills, building experience, or just plain fun, especially in the case of competitions that are open to anyone interested and without an admission fee to be paid. But for those who manage to enter the finals (against all odds), many interesting opportunities present themselves. A chance of winning valuable prizes before anything else, but perhaps also a possibility of being noticed by someone who will give you that lucky break.

I don’t like this concept much. Not that I question the neutrality of the judges or bending the rules, but it is completely naive to think that everyone has a chance. Not everyone is equally skilled, or has the same experience, or perhaps cannot afford quality gear. Also, those with certain references or academic backgrounds will always have an advantage. Finally, not everyone knows “what goes” or doesn’t want to know. Sadly, talent, creativity, effort, passion, and musical personality are only secondary (to say the least), and might only make some difference if you reach the top, which is hardly likely with the huge competition around. And by competition, I don’t necessarily mean quality.

All things said, I don’t see too many reasons to bother with competitions, even when a task at hand seems to be “right up my alley”. After all, I have but a talent, creativity, and knowledge I gathered for many years, without any help or guidance. Furthermore, I doubt that my location helps me either, despite the Internet that (supposedly) erases all borders. I’m just a guy from a small place in Croatia, eons away from the world centers of music and film industries. And finally, I don’t want to sacrifice my personal and musical identity for a slim chance of success. I often wonder if some famous artist from the bygone times would fare better these days. By all accounts, they wouldn’t enter such competitions even if it means life and death. ;)

Music composed, performed, and produced by Tomislav Erhard-Pacovski

Mastered by Steve Kitch at Audiomaster Ltd

Photos by Marinko Šarić

Copyright © 2024 Tomislav Erhard-Pacovski

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